7. The Party

"WOOHOOOO" A loud voice yelled through the air as a teenager flew from the top of the roof into the pool waiting below.

As he struck the water louds cheers erupted from all around as the gathered youths all drank from their plastic cups filled with a mix of different alcohols and fizzy drinks. Despite legally being adults now that they were 18 and even having manifested their systems, they still hadn't shook the childish joy from watching someone jump from a great height.

Jack wandered from the garden into the house with a drunken glee pasted onto his face. Stumbling through the halls filled with people, Jack made his way into the living room where Leo was making out with a brunette. He knew just who she was, Samantha. She went to East Lane High but Jack doubted Leo knew that, let alone her name. Even though they joked about him being an incel and his bald head, Leo was actually pretty attractive and never had any issues with women and was even better than James who was not only tall but also jacked to boot. Now that he also had luscious golden locks as well, he was way beyond their level. 

Seeing the scene and simply smiling at his mate, Jack decided to move away before he interrupted them by staring. One kid Pio made that same mistake a few years ago and he was labelled Voy since then. On account of being a Voyeur.

Jack reveled in the drunken smiles and laughs of all those he considered friends. Whilst he was very close with Alice, James and Leo, they were almost infamous in the district for not only their ability to bunk school without repercussions, but also the parties they threw. It was no wonder the entire year of nearly 100 people showed up to his birthday party, even when it was in the park. He knew everyone here, and was liked by everyone here. With his sometimes bashful attitude mixed in with his kind outlook on people and appreciation of general niceties, he was very popular. And yet, he knew that quite a few of them were praying on his short comings. They liked him, and he was kind, but some took it the wrong way. Some had the idea that he was akin to a lord taking pity on the peasants around him and gracing them with his presence. Yet Jack did not care. He only cared about how he felt about himself, and how he acted to others. Everything else be damned.

After making a few rounds of the house, speaking to everyone that he could, he began to make his way outside and into the garden again, where Alice was. Making his way outside, the booming of the music got quieter and the air cooler. People were still moving around and dancing, making him have to wade through the crowd like an ant through blades of grass in a windstorm. When he finally got through the crowd, he caught a glimpse of Alice, sitting on a bench at the end of the garden. Her legs over that of another man, someone from another school. He did not care. He knew he should not care. She was not his, and he was not hers. She didn't love him the way he did. That would not change. But that did not stop the pain he felt. 

All of a sudden a lump formed in his chest. He felt heavy. Heavier than he had felt in years. His muscles flared and mana started leaking from his body. Rage fueled every fiber of his body, and yet he could do nothing. He was not strong enough, physically nor mentally, to make a difference. And this was not something he could change by mere anger alone. And he would not let his anger rule his mind, not again, not after what happened last time. Yet, his anger didn't disappear, it only sunk. Below his chest, below his lungs, into his stomach. And then, without any control what so ever, his new minions appeared, ripping through the skin of his hand and turned to stare at him. He knew they did not have eyes nor the sentience to feel emotions like he could, and yet he felt his anger reflected in them.

"Go get stronger" He whispered to the insects in his palm. As he did, they leapt and fell to the ground. All but one, who looked at him with what seemed to be a hint of sadness before following her sisters.

Jack could do nothing at this point, but that didn't mean he couldn't try to feel nothing. And so, he got to drinking. Each shot tasted sweeter and sweeter and each second less painful than the last. After drinking enough to put a cow in a coma, he tried to make his way back inside. But he was stopped.

"Hey Jack, where you running off to?" a sweet melodic voice drifted into his ears. In an instant he knew who it was, Kate. She was a little bit taller than him with light brown almost ginger hair, not only that but her figure was perfect. In his drunken state, Jack merely gawked at the possibility of existing around her. She hadn't spoken to him since the beginning of the year despite coming to many of his parties, mainly because he was so obvious in his love for Alice. But it seemed she didn't care anymore.

"As long as you're here, I'm going nowhere" Jack said with drunken confidence.

"Well that's good, I was looking forward to talking to you." She replied, slightly blushing.

"So, what type of system did you manifest?"

"Ahh I was really hoping for a combat class, but I got a system to do with engineering. So far my skills let me be better at maths and physics but nothing revolutionary. What about you?"

"I was really lucky to be honest, I was pretty much obsessed with getting a combat class and I got one!"

"Awww Jack that's amazing, I'm so happy for you. That means you have got to protect me from now on" Kate replied whilst surreptitiously stroking his arm.

"Of course, as long as I'm here nothing will hurt you"

"Haha making me feel like a damsel in distress, how very chivalric of you."

"Well I do what I can" Jack shrugged.

"What rarity is your class?"

"Unfortunately it's only rare but hey ho what can you do" Jack said with a nonchalant manner. Unlike Leo, he didn't want to tell anyone that would listen about the rarity of his system, it would make life so much more difficult if people he came to care about merely wanted to be close to him because of how rare his system was. Typically, Mythical Systems were also extremely powerful, which meant that those with such Systems would gain fame and wealth faster than all others, he didn't want that to cloud other people's judgement.

"Ahhh that's a great rarity, means you really are one in a million."

"Haha, more like 1 in 10,000 but thanks" Jack replied with a chuckle.

Leaning in close, Kate whispered just low enough that only he could hear underneath the loud music.

"Between you and me, my dad is on the board of directors for Ember Academy and there have been 5 new Mythic Systems! Not just Mythic Systems, but NEW ones. Most of the time when a Mythic System appears, it is the same as another or slightly different powers with the same name, but new Mythics are almost unheard of. I think the last one was over two hundred years ago."

"Ohhhh nice, lucky them"

"Yeah really lucky them, I mean you should know"

"What do you mean?"

"Well duh, Leo has been telling literally everyone with ears that he is one of the new mythic systems, I thought he would've told you by now?" She said matter of factly.

"Oh yeah course, didn't really think he wanted to tell everyone so soon. Though it is him so I probably should have known"

"Hahaha he isn't the type to keep something like that a secret"

"So true"

With the brief silence that followed, Jack got a good look at Kate. She was smiling with a bashful grin that made her nearly irresistible. The curve of her lips enticing him in like a drug he could not seem to shake. Her eyes sparkled from the waving lights of the moon, each wave of light that flickered past giving her an iridescent glow, making his passion grow ever more. In this setting and his drunken state, Jack had no reason not to oblige his desires. Especially since Alice did.

"Let's go somewhere quieter" Jack said with a smile as he grabbed her hand, pulling her away from the hubbub of the party and upstairs. As they made their way up the stairs, they dodged the littered bodies of drunken mistakes as each one pondered their state of mind. 

Taking Kate into the bedroom adjacent to the stairwell, he knew just what to do. Standing mere inches apart, their eyes were alight with a primal hunger and met in a silent agreement, without hesitation, their lips collided with an intensity that set their worlds ablaze. Jack's hands, strong yet tender, cradled Kate's face and pulled her closer as if yearning not to let even an inch of space exist between them. Kate's fingers entwined in the strands of Jack's black hair, pulling him nearer still. The kiss swept them away into a realm where nothing else existed but the heat of their bodies pressed together, the taste of each other on their lips, and the thundering of their hearts in synchrony. With every touch, every graze of skin against skin, the flames of desire grew fiercer, consuming them wholly until they were lost in a world where time stood still and only the electricity of their connection crackled in the air.

Every moment of that hour was filled with primal anger and desire that Jack had never felt before. His love for Alice was pure and innocent, yet when with Kate, he was anything but. Together they were primordial creatures intent on satisfying their every urges and cravings. And that they did. Yet for all ancient beasts, time still moves on and within their fury of passion they lost track of that which would destroy them. Time.

Detaching their sweaty bodies from each other was one of the hardest things that Jack had to do, but his phone was buzzing and beeping from the notifications from his friends. 

He swiftly put his jeans and belt on, his somewhat toned form still rippling from the sheer animalistic feat he had just accomplished. 

"Nooo, don't put your shirt on just yet. Let me watch a bit longer" Kate said, still wrapped in the duvet. Her long ginger hair was once calm and groomed, now it lay in a mess around her like the debris of a fight between monsters.

"Haha shush" Jack said.

Despite his protestation, he obliged as he called Leo, making sure to tense all his core as he did.

"What's up man?" Jack said, still slightly panting.

"Jack man, I love you. You're so cool I can't lie. Like I just love you so so so much. I couldn't wish for a better friend. But I also have James, he's cool as well. I love him so so much as well. Not sure about Alice though, she's a meany, stopped me and Samantha before it got really really fun."